High intake of cruciferous vegetables associated with lower death rate, researchers say.

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TUESDAY,
April 3, 2012 (HealthDay News) — Eating broccoli, one
of the top "super foods," and other cruciferous vegetables may
improve your odds for breast
cancer survival, a new study suggests.

In a study of women in
China diagnosed with breast cancer, researchers found that women who consumed
the most cruciferous vegetables were 62 percent less likely to die of breast
cancer and 35 percent less likely to have a recurrence of the disease, compared
with those who consumed the least.

The most common cruciferous
vegetables that the women reported eating were mustard and turnip greens, bok
choy, cauliflower and green cabbage. Kale, collard greens and arugula are other
cruciferous vegetables.

"This study suggests
that cruciferous vegetables and the bioactive compounds in them may be
protective against breast cancer," said Sarah Nechuta, a research fellow
in the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center in Nashville, Tenn., and lead author of
the study.

However, it is not clear if
this association would be seen for women in the United States, who tend to eat
a different assortment of the vegetables — more broccoli, cauliflower
and Brussels sprouts than bok choy, Nechuta added.

Previous studies of women
in China, the United States and Sweden hinted that higher cruciferous vegetable
intake could be linked with reduced risk of developing breast cancer, but the
current research is among the first to examine women after a breast cancer diagnosis.

The findings are slated for
presentation Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in
Chicago.

The study involved almost
5,000 women between 20 and 75 years old who were part of the Shanghai Breast
Cancer Survival Study. Researchers interviewed the women within six months of
their diagnosis to gather information about diet, lifestyle and such clinical
factors as tumor stage. They also asked about their intake of cruciferous
vegetables at 18 and 36 months after their diagnosis.

Women whose consumption of
cruciferous vegetables was in the top 25 percent were 62 percent less likely to
die of breast cancer during the roughly five-year study period than women in
the bottom 25 percent, the study found.

Recurrence was 35 percent
less likely among women in the top bracket of consumption compared to those in
the bottom 25 percent.

The researchers also found
that women in the top quarter for consumption were 62 percent less likely to
die of any cause than those in the bottom 25 percent.

The Vanderbilt group
previously found a link between cruciferous vegetable consumption and fewer
deaths and less heart disease among healthy Chinese adults,
suggesting that this food group might bestow overall survival benefits, Nechuta
said.

On average, the women in
the new study ate about 3 1/2 ounces a day of cruciferous vegetables, which
come from plants with four flower petals that form the shape of a crucifer
cross.

The associations with
reduced death and cancer recurrence remained even after adjusting for other
differences, including consumption of soy and meat, vitamin intake, physical
activity, stage of cancer, income and education level.

Even so, Dr. Laura Kruper,
director of the Women's Health Center at City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., said,
"It's so hard to show a link between cause and effect in these types of
studies." She added that, while the study has merits, more studies have to
be done in other populations and for longer periods of time to establish a
cause-and-effect relationship.

Nechuta noted that women in
the United States may not see the same benefits because different cruciferous
vegetables, with different bioactive compounds, are more popular and because
American women eat far less of this type of produce — about 1 ounce a
day on average.

Also, variations in genes
have been found in the Chinese population that could slow the metabolism of
this type of vegetable, keeping the beneficial compounds in the body longer,
Nechuta added.

Nevertheless, there is
probably no harm in advising women in the United States to up their intake of
these vegetables, Kruper said. The American Cancer Society recommends eating at
least 2 1/2 cups of all kinds of fruits and vegetables a day.

"I tell my patients to
limit alcohol to four drinks a week and limit sugar, and also eat more greens
and flaxseed and less red meat," Kruper said. However, alcohol and
physical inactivity are the only two factors that are known "for
sure" to increase breast cancer risk, she added.

"When we think of vegetables, we think of lettuce or green beans,
and there are a lot of benefits to those, but I would probably also recommend
cruciferous vegetables," Kruper said.

Data and conclusions
presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published
in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

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